[Bug 947008] Re: update-notifier inappropriately uses an indicator menu

[Matthew Paul Thomas]

If a dialog pops up when you are working on other tasks, that is a bug
that should be fixed in the window manager, not something that should be
worked around with a hidden configuration key in every one of the many
programs that need to open windows unprompted. Not only would that be
gratuitously inefficient, it wouldn't even help most of the people
experiencing the problem, because they wouldn't know the key exists. And
that the Update Manager dialog is currently slow is similarly a bug that
exists regardless of when it opens.

** Description changed:

- update-manager 1:0.156.6, update-notifier 0.118.1ubuntu1, Ubuntu 12.04
- beta 1
+ update-notifier 0.118.1ubuntu1, apport 1.93-0ubuntu2, Ubuntu 12.04 beta
+ 1
  
- On upgrading from Ubuntu 11.10 to Ubuntu Pangolin, Update Manager
- stopped working properly. Instead, an orange starburst icon started
- appearing in the menu bar whenever updates were available, with a menu
- containing miscapitalized "Show updates", "Install all updates", etc.
+ 1. Install xubuntu-desktop (for example, for someone else to use on the same computer).
+ 2. Log in to a Unity session.
+ 3. Trigger a crash (e.g. at a terminal, "sh -c 'kill -SEGV $$'").
+ 4. Wait for software updates to become available.
  
- Supposedly this menu is present only when dconf com.ubuntu.update-
- notifier.auto-launch is set to False. But it is, and (as far as I know)
- always has been, set to True.
+ What happens:
+ 3. A red explosion menu appears, and a notification bubble saying "An application has crashed on your system (now or in the past). Click on the notification icon to display details."
+ 4. An orange starburst menu appears, with miscapitalized items "Show updates", "Install all updates", etc.
  
- I don't know why the setting isn't working, but it is an example of the
- cost of implementing settings that shouldn't exist. There is no point in
- displaying a menu unasked that exists solely to provide access to a
- dialog box, instead of just opening the dialog box unasked. Showing
- updates, installing updates, and accessing the update settings are all
- the same number of clicks from the dialog as they are from the menu, if
- any other windows are in front of the dialog when it opens, or even
- fewer clicks if no windows are in front of it.
+ What's wrong with this:
+ * There's no point in showing a menu that contains only an item to open an alert box, instead of just opening the alert box.
+ * No, it wasn't an application that crashed, it was a terminal command.
+ * "(now or in the past)" is awkward.
+ * "Click on the notification icon"? What's a "notification icon"?
+ * We know that a tiny orange starburst isn't enough to get people to install updates promptly.
+ * It doesn't follow the design specification in either case.
+ <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ErrorTracker#error>
+ <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareUpdates#Launching_automatically>
  
- The indicator menu and the com.ubuntu.update-notifier.auto-launch
- setting should be removed. Fixing this would also resolve bug 249367,
- bug 265313, and bug 891421.
+ This bug has two causes. First, there exists a dconf key com.ubuntu
+ .update-notifier.auto-launch, and update-notifier goes off the
+ reservation if the key is set to false. And second, xubuntu-desktop
+ installs a /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/20_xubuntu-default-
+ settings.gschema.override that sets auto-launch=false, even if you
+ aren't using a Xubuntu session yourself.
+ 
+ This is an example of the cost of implementing settings that shouldn't
+ exist. Dealing with errors, showing updates, installing updates, and
+ accessing the update settings are all the same number of clicks from the
+ respective dialog as they are from the menus, if any other windows are
+ in front of the dialog when it opens, or even fewer clicks if no windows
+ are in front of it.
+ 
+ The indicator menus and the com.ubuntu.update-notifier.auto-launch
+ setting should be removed. If the Xubuntu developers want different
+ behavior, they should implement their own notifier. Fixing this would
+ also resolve bug 249367, bug 265313, bug 752017, and bug 891421.

** Summary changed:

- update-notifier inappropriately uses an indicator menu
+ update-notifier inappropriately uses an indicator menu if xubuntu-desktop is installed

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/947008

Title:
  update-notifier inappropriately uses an indicator menu if xubuntu-
  desktop is installed

Status in “update-notifier” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  update-notifier 0.118.1ubuntu1, apport 1.93-0ubuntu2, Ubuntu 12.04
  beta 1

  1. Install xubuntu-desktop (for example, for someone else to use on the same computer).
  2. Log in to a Unity session.
  3. Trigger a crash (e.g. at a terminal, "sh -c 'kill -SEGV $$'").
  4. Wait for software updates to become available.

  What happens:
  3. A red explosion menu appears, and a notification bubble saying "An application has crashed on your system (now or in the past). Click on the notification icon to display details."
  4. An orange starburst menu appears, with miscapitalized items "Show updates", "Install all updates", etc.

  What's wrong with this:
  * There's no point in showing a menu that contains only an item to open an alert box, instead of just opening the alert box.
  * No, it wasn't an application that crashed, it was a terminal command.
  * "(now or in the past)" is awkward.
  * "Click on the notification icon"? What's a "notification icon"?
  * We know that a tiny orange starburst isn't enough to get people to install updates promptly.
  * It doesn't follow the design specification in either case.
  <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ErrorTracker#error>
  <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareUpdates#Launching_automatically>

  This bug has two causes. First, there exists a dconf key com.ubuntu
  .update-notifier.auto-launch, and update-notifier goes off the
  reservation if the key is set to false. And second, xubuntu-desktop
  installs a /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/20_xubuntu-default-
  settings.gschema.override that sets auto-launch=false, even if you
  aren't using a Xubuntu session yourself.

  This is an example of the cost of implementing settings that shouldn't
  exist. Dealing with errors, showing updates, installing updates, and
  accessing the update settings are all the same number of clicks from
  the respective dialog as they are from the menus, if any other windows
  are in front of the dialog when it opens, or even fewer clicks if no
  windows are in front of it.

  The indicator menus and the com.ubuntu.update-notifier.auto-launch
  setting should be removed. If the Xubuntu developers want different
  behavior, they should implement their own notifier. Fixing this would
  also resolve bug 249367, bug 265313, bug 752017, and bug 891421.

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